THE first two teams to compete in the Winsford Festival's zany It's a Knockout-style competition have been announced.

For the first time, this year's festival will host a game based on the popular 1970s TV series hosted by Stuart Hall.

It will feature crazy games and will be one of the main highlights of the festival, which runs from Friday, June 3, to Sunday, June 5.

Among those taking part are Winsford companies The Nesco Group and Richmond Packaging, and other businesses or groups who want to enter a team are invited to contact organisers.

Donna Campbell of The Nesco Group said: 'When we first heard about this, we thought this was a great opportunity to raise money for a worthy cause, not only that but it will be a fantastic team building event.

'We chose our name Hell of a Mess because it's a saying in our office started by one of our team.'

Deborah Oakes of New Road-based Richmond Packaging said: 'It's all for a very good cause, and it was no problem getting 10 willing volunteers to take part.'

The team, the Richmond Rebels, will have Deborah's son Daniel, 6, as mascot.

Other teams taking part include representatives of Mc-Donald's, estate agency Swetenhams and public houses The Star, Saxons, The Ark, Red Lion and JD Wetherspoon.

Programmes and raffle tickets for the festival are now on sale from Winsford's Asda, a key sponsor of the event.

The store has donated raffle prizes including a DVD player, a 14-inch colour television and a children's mountain bike to help raise money for mayor Tony Hooton's designated charity.

Programmes cost 50p, while raffle tickets are available for 20p each, or £1 for a strip of six.